My Toilet Paper Roll

Does it ever seem to you that the only way we look at life is through our spiritual toilet paper rolls? Everyone seems to be pointing in multiple directions while arguing which shade of blue God is today. I go with Navy.

MESS UP

I was disrespectful to a fellow Christian the other day and I was wrong...

A group of my friends and I were about to go out back and smoke some cigars I had picked up in Ft. Collins, CO. As I made it into the living room a friend of the host asked me what I had. "Cigars!" I said with a smile... the friend thought I was kidding and "played" along. But to their disappointment the red colored, sturdy, cool looking box had nothing but four of my Churchill sized Alec Bradley Maxx cigars resting just above my cutter.

It didn't take long for the questions to turn to judging, the judging to false claims of sin, and the false claims to my frown. They said that when a pastor mentioned that he smoked cigars, it was his way of confessing a sin. I think not.

So after about a minute, my standing neighbor said with a concerned tone, "You know... you really need to be careful around..." And without letting the sentence complete I blurted out of frustration, "Judgmental People?!"

That's where I went wrong. I was saying that they couldn't see because they didn't see through my toilet paper roll.

I'm not saying that when someone falsely proclaims sin that you should agree. My suggestion is that you gently reach over and guide their roll to see what you see... and more importantly be willing to have them guide yours as well.

WE GET STUCK

It makes me sick to think that I would keep pointing at the same part of the sky my whole life and not get a better view of God. Many people wrap their mind around one part of scripture and live only that for the rest of their life.

The problem is that if you set unbreakable rules that scripture didn't create then scripture probably already broke them for you. If you say that drinking alcohol is a sin then you'll probably forget to teach (John 2:1) about Jesus' first miracle or (Mark 14:24,25) about communion. You might forget that wine was normal in the church before the prohibition.

If you say that a person's finances parallels their blessings, then you'll probably forget to teach on (Matt 19:24) how hard it is for a rich man to get into heaven or (Luke 6:20) how Jesus teaches that the kingdom of God is for the poor. And if you're not careful you could walk on the edge of using the blessings of God as the tool to convert people (Matt 23:15) where Jesus says this makes the converts twice the sons of hell as you.

MOVE

I write this only to plead with you to move your toilet paper roll. Find the people you may have teepeed along the way for not moving. Let them look through your roll and be strong enough to look through theirs. It's the only way we'll all see God together.

Jesus Would Be Fired

A famous philosopher by the name of Gandhi accurately pin-pointed the tragic state of the Christian community today by saying…

"I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians.

They are so unlike your Christ."

Many Christians will get mad if you tell them this. Their projection of righteousness to the world only blinds themselves. The judgment they cast upon the poor and the ugly, who are more accurately described as human, only pushes away the very people they claim to serve.

I have Christian friends who won't drink around people to protect their influence as a minister. I still have a hard time understanding this idea because our leader, The Christ, offered wine as a symbol of His blood. He ordered us to take it in remembrance of him and even promised that he would drink wine with us when we're with Him in our Father's Kingdom (Matthew 26:29 NKJV). Why in the world would we say that an example given by God himself is not valid or not permitted in the world of ministry?

Some of my most meaningful moments in ministry have been over a cocktail in a bar or with a glass of wine at someone's house.

Please don't see this as my blurring of the lines of drunkenness. Like food, too much consumption of alcohol is clearly painted as sin in the bible. But if drinking were a thing that God didn't see fit for his children, why then was Jesus' first miracle an act more similar to a beer run than anything else. Wine ran out at a wedding party in Cana and Jesus, according to the bible, made wine that was much better than what they started with. This is said to be the "beginning of the signs" of Christ.

What is God's law when it's watered down to be culturally accepted? Why is it that we attempt to justify our own self-righteous motives by using out of context verses to control people?

Subjects like drinking and smoking are often preached against in the church, but I've yet to find any verses against those actions in themselves. On the other hand the subjects of gluttony, hypocrisy, or greed (to name a few) are not often discussed, due to cultural influence and some inaccurate theological trends.

Jesus was often looked down upon by people that tried to be more righteous than He. I wish we could follow the example of the love shown by Jesus, instead of seeking secular approval and hypocritically claiming truths that are not valid.

I hate to say Gandhi was right.

In today's church, Jesus would be fired for the same reasons he was killed.